In a marriage each person seems to understand the intimate experience in his or her own way. In a sense it takes a journey of personal discovery to learn how to share intimacy with another person. Here are some guidelines that may help to define that journey– Know Your Self: Get in touch with your own private experiences. In our …

Many people search for that special intimacy in their relationship. Some of us search our entire lives for a feeling of oneness with another person. It’s hard to describe, really, what we search for, but we know it when we finally achieve it. Maybe we tire of that dark feeling of being ultimately alone as we struggle through life. If …

MARRIAGE & EMOTIONALLY AVAILABLE PARTNERS How emotionally available are you ? Circle “T” or “F” to describe how you respond to the following situations. The more “True” answers you circle, the likelier you are to have difficulty with emotional availability (T)(F) I seldom cry. (T)(F) If I feel like crying, I try everything I can to stop myself. (T)(F) I seldom saw my …

MARRIAGE AND BEING EMOTIONALLY AVAILABLE In addition to becoming familiar with your emotions, there are three other elements that are related to developing the capacity to be emotionally available – Good Self-Esteem – The messages we have heard from other people throughout our lives – but especially during childhood when we are most vulnerable to the impact of these messages …

MARRIAGE AND UNEMOTIONAL PARTNERS Working on Emotional Availability Emotional availability refers to the ability of a person to share feelings with another person. In order for this to happen, a person needs to be in touch with her own emotions and able to define them. This person would have a good working knowledge of her own feelings and be able …

MARRIAGE & UNEMOTIONAL PARTNER There are many other examples of partners who are emotionally unavailable. Consider a few of them – Some people seem to live to do things, the more exciting the better. They are adventure seekers. There’s always one more trip to take, one more skydive, one more mountain to climb. These people get their attention from their …

MARRIAGE & UNEMOTIONAL PARTNER When we commit to a relationship, we usually expect that our partner will reciprocate with roughly the same level of emotional involvement that we put into it. Many of us hope to find a soulmate, a partner who can share and understand our feelings and ways of thinking on an intensely personal level. Others don’t expect …

Children need to be heard. Listening to children gives them the feeling that they count, that they matter. They can draw on the strength and experience of an adult whom they trust – and they trust those who give them stable and consistent attention. It is during childhood that they develop a level of self-esteem that may follow them throughout …